A SIDE OF TONGUE-LASHING WITH YOUR DINNER, MA'AM?

This evening, my daughter and I went to eat at the café where everybody in town has supper on some night of the week.  For Thursday, late in the dinner hour, the place was fairly busy.  We sat down in one of the booths, met our waitress and placed our order.  There was an older gentleman alone in the booth behind me.  He was being overly appreciative of his waitress with the playful names he called her each time he thanked her for each beer delivery and every other little thing she did.  I was immediately turned off.  I noticed his hand on the back of his seat nearly touching my right shoulder.  I scooted left and leaned forward, and continued to talk with my child.  Obviously, he wanted the attention his waitress couldn't give him.  As she passed his table, not stopping to acknowledge an irrelevant question he posed, I heard him laugh and say, "Well, if these two behind me weren't so quiet..."  I glanced at him over my shoulder, and gave him a grin, hoping that would suffice.  It didn't.  He wanted a full-on conversation while we waited for our meals to be delivered.  So, I obliged and turned to him with my full attention. 

The how-do-you-dos were barely out of the way when this old fart immediately went into a rant about the government.  He wanted to know how I felt about my tax dollars being spent on lazy, unemployed people.  I thought that was an awfully abrasive manner to start a conversation with a stranger.  But, he probably just assumed everyone feels the same as he does about how our tax dollars are spent.  I worked pretty hard at answering his questions, but he was better at dominating the exchange. 

I grabbed his attention when I explained to him that in spite of his claims, no family could live solely on a monthly unemployment check or AFDC check along with food stamps.  His argument was that society as a whole in these United States has become far too dependent on government assistance, and I could easily tell this assumption bothered him deeply.  He told me a story about himself as a 16-year-old in Canada who quit school to play soccer professionally.  Team management paid him under the table because of his age, allowing him to also collect unemployment benefits.  When the first government check arrived in the post, his mother took that envelope, wrote "no able-bodied son of mine is going to collect money from the government.," and returned to sender.  The story was obviously the catalyst for his outlook on government assistance of its people.

He told me that when he lived in Canada as a working adult, his income was taxed at 63%, and asked me if I thought that was fair.  I beamed when he said that percentage, and declared, "if only we could get back to those kinds of tax rates in America."  He continued attempting to make point after point, and I kept illustrating the other side of his argument.  Sounding almost threatening, he began to repeat, "now, I don't want to argue with you."  Luckily, both tables' food arrived about that time.  Evidently, few people have ever dared to argue with this man, let alone a woman.  The poor thing was becoming more exasperated with me and my different perspective.

Kayla and I consumed our meal without interference.  But, when I heard him ask for a to-go box, I turned around and inquired of his name, something I had yet to learn.  I know now that engaging him that second time was probably a mistake, but I was curious as to who he was.  He explained where his ranch is situated in Gonzales County, and told me his name.  I asked him if he was related to another family I know locally with the same, common last name.  I wanted to lighten the feel of our encounter by finishing our meeting with generic details completely unrelated to politics.  My attempt fell flat.  He answered me, but it was rude and crass.

Preparing to leave, he was standing over me now.  He looked me square in the eyes, and asked me if I was an Obama supporter.  Since it was clearly an attack, I sat there quietly, and he asked me again.  Knowing he was demanding an answer, I looked him square in the eyes, and said, "President Obama is a two-term president of these United States.  Like him or not, there is a level of respect and patriotism that is expected of you with regard to that man and that office."  Disgusted, he walked up front to take care of his bill.  Once he was done, he came back to the table.  He wasn't quite done!  He pointed at me and said, "You are the only single person I've ever heard in all of Texas that voted for that *%#@*^.  Kayla raised her hand, and proudly announced, "I DID!"  And, I assured him that he knows none of the good and decent people I know in Texas.  It was then that he loudly told me that I was full of shit. 

During all of this, I was completely unaware of how the patrons all over the restaurant were reacting to this display playing out between me and the loud, belligerent man.  After he told me off, he left, and we went to the front and paid, and headed for the door.  I noticed him outside pacing on the sidewalk, smoking a cigarette, and for the first time, got scared.  I turned around in my tracks, and the lady standing at the register caught my eye, and said, "What?"  I told her the man was still around, and she told me to wait for them, and they'd walk out with me.  She was standing alongside her police officer husband.  Out of the blue, a fellow appears from across the room, tells me he had witnessed the confrontation, and asked me if I needed help getting to my car. 

Instead of waiting, I thanked the couple, and walked out with him.  The angry Republican was getting in his truck, and posed no threat.  As we walked across the street to my car, the young man explained to me that he had been watching, and at one point, stood up and was just itching to come over to my rescue.  His wife told him to sit down and stay out of it.  I never felt threatened by the man until I saw him outside, and then he was surely only pacing to finish his cigarette before entering his vehicle.  The whole experience brings about the sad realization that people with his mindset and hard heart are everywhere.  They're selfish and greedy and think only about promoting themselves and their welfare.  This man kept trying to convince me that people who take assistance from the government are what's wrong with this country.  I contend it's people like him.

Stay strong in your beliefs, dear liberals.  The general welfare of our country is under attack.  Meet fear and anger with fact and reason.  Even when your dinner is interrupted.

Peace, Love, Solidarity ~ Martha